When I started watching 24's first season, it was a great show. Great concept. Great plot. But then, more viewers started watching, and the plots, writing, acting, all started to slip. It's still a fun show, but for a show that's supposed to be based in reality, it falls short in too many ways. Jack Bauer, President Palmer, President Logan, Kim Bauer, Tony Almeda, Michelle Dessler, Chloe, Edgar, Curtis, and anyone else on this mind-numbing, over-acted, poorly-written drama, watch your ass.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

From Zap2it.com:
"24" star Kiefer Sutherland wasn't trying to save the world when he made an illegal U-turn in the wee hours.

Instead, the Emmy-winning actor was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on Tuesday, Sept. 25 in West Hollywood, reports TMZ.com. Earlier in the evening, he had attended the FOX Fall Eco-Casino party at Area nightclub.

The 40-year-old was pulled over at 1:35 a.m. on the corner of La Cienega and Beverly. A breathalyzer test showed that his blood alcohol level was above the legal .08 limit for California.

He was taken to the Hollywood Police station and booked for a misdemeanor DUI. He was released on $25,000 bail.

Sutherland is due in court on Oct. 16.

Well, this will definitely put a damper on his run for President, but it also speaks volumes about his latest round of reality. Think about it... everyone he loves dies and sometimes they come back! I'd probably be drunk-driving around LA at 1:35 a.m. if I saw Tony Almeida show up earlier that day.

I wonder how long he sat in the jailcell while someone came to get him. And while he waited, did the 24-clock beep the whole time? That could make for some interesting reality tv. Someone, please get that tape!

Before the news of Tony returning broke, I thought that 24 fans were awfully lenient with the writing staff. Now, however, it appears that most suffer from the ostrich syndrome – where you stick your head in the sand to ignore what's going on. Everywhere I read, fans are rejoicing that Tony is back... from the dead. Yes, he was dead. Don't let anyone on the 24 tell you otherwise. Don't listen to the lies they're going to spin... especially when Executive Producer Howard Gordon says something like:

"That's something, obviously, we're going to have to explain away," Gordon says. "Hopefully, in the spirit of creating a good show and creating an interesting season, people will allow the fun [of '24']."

In the spirit (pun intended, I'm sure) of creating an interesting season? Let me translate that for you – in the interest of me keeping my job because we got our asses handed to us for the crap we put out there last year.

I'm bewildered that these fans are all excited about Tony returning. Really, I am. Why? BECAUSE HE WAS DEAD!!! This isn't a soap opera. This is a show that's based on the reality of a 24-hour timeline AND the notion that terrorist attacks could happen on US soil. But now we're supposed to believe that a character that was killed off in season five is just about to magically reappear?

I'm not sure how Mr. Gordon and his crew will explain what's plainly listed in the 24 recaps:

Season Five: 7:00 - 8:00 pm
7:59 P.M. – Jack enters the clinic and finds Tony and Burke on the ground. Gasping his last breath of life, Tony tells Jack that he couldn’t do it. Jack clutches Tony’s head. Tony dies, and Jack cries with him still in his arms.

Season Five: 8:00 - 9:00 pm
8:00 P.M. – As the medic workers wrap up Tony’s body, Audrey comes to tell Jack that Henderson has escaped. However, Chloe was able to decrypt a file on his computer and she found an intelligence broker named Collette Stenger who is a known associate of Bierko.

Tony dies in Jack's arms. Next episode, Tony's body is being wrapped up by medical workers.

He's dead. Tony is gone. Character written off of the show.

How can you be excited about this? This opens the flood gates of allowing the writers to do ANYTHING they want. This doesn't make for interesting television. It reeks of publicity stunt and ratings grabbing. Ultimately, it's going to make them all look like fools (if that's not too late, already).

If you're a fan and you're excited about Tony the un-dead agent, then just admit the show is lost and insanely silly. Then I won't want to sucker-punch you so bad.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

From TVGuide.com:
I will go out of my way not to blurt this out, lest someone castigate me for spoiling. But when Fox's 24 launches Season 7 on Jan. 13 and 14 with a two-night premiere, a familiar (though unexpected) face will put in an appearance. "With CTU dismantled, the show's setting moves to Washington, D.C., where Jack Bauer faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice," reads the Fox press release. "Bauer's day gets off to a shocking start when former colleague Tony Almeida (played by Carlos Bernard), last seen in Day 5, returns after being left for dead by a terrorist conspirator in CTU's infirmary."

Say wha?! "Tony's uncertain fate... left the door open for his return," explains exec producer Howard Gordon. "And since there was no silent clock at the conclusion of his last appearance — the 24 tribute to a major character's demise — we always kept this as a possibility." Indeed, it was widely rumored (and, I believe, perhaps even filmed) that Tony was to resurface in the final seconds of last season.

Wait until you-know-who finds out that wife Michelle herself is alive, and working as a chaplain at ER's County General!

As Jonk points out in today's earlier post – this is so asenine and ludicris that 24 not only jumps the shark, but ties a rock to it's feet and drowns itself. How in the world does Tony survive in season five and NO ONE knows about it?

Sure season six totally sucked. We all know it. Will bringing Tony back, into a season that was delayed several different times due to re-writes, solve that? How does this jive with 24's fresh start? Still in America. Still related to a government agency. Still has Chloe and Bill. And now Tony. Wow. This'll feel like a brand new show! SOOOOO different.

I was all excited about 24 trying to put a stake in the ground and "start over," but this news definitely puts them back 17,000 steps.

So let's recap when we last saw Tony. He was dead inside of CTU.

How will this be explained!?! More moles? Tony was taken to be buried but came back to life? Even if he didn't die, NO ONE told Jack? And if they DID know, why wasn't he brought in when Graem and Daddy Bauer were running amuck in season six -- didn't Tony and Michelle's company have something to do with them!?!

Bullshit. I'll say it again. Bullshit.

Way to go Fox. Way to go 24. You're making a mockery out of yourselves.

While catching up on some blogs, I thought I would post some of the random 24-related news from the heres and theres.

Jon Cassar has a "blog"
Yes, it's true. One of 24's Executive Producers, and lead directors, has his own blog. I see it more as a propaganda piece for 24, since it needs all the good ju-ju that it can get, but still, he spouts some interesting stuff on there from time to time. Aside from the casting news he's listed on there, he also talks about how filming is getting close to wrapping for the season's two-hour premiere on Sunday, January 13 – of course it's supposed to be good and all of the actors are supposed to be awesome (I would've loved to read his blog during last season, just to see how what he says would compare to the drivel they gave us).

What I really loved, however, was this little snippet he has on the site:

It's Emmy day, but alas no 24 nominations on the big night except for Kiefers. It's the first time in 6 years I won't be going to the show. I will however be visiting a couple of after parties. We did win an award last weekend at the creative awards, for sound editing, which kept us from being shut out. The show has won at least one emmy for every year it has aired. And we are still the only Drama for Fox network in their history, that was won emmys for "Best Drama", "Best Actor" and "Best Director". And only one of 3 shows (X-Files and House) that have won for "Best Writing".

So he didn't attend the Emmys, because, to me, it sounds like he KNEW that Kiefer wasn't going to win. And like I mentioned the other day, when you win an Emmy, you gotta hang your hat on something – even if it's the Emmy for best sound editing in a series. Keep your eye on his blog for more news. Too bad there's not an RSS feed. I guess he didn't want to be TOO 21st century.

24 named one of Time's Best 100 TV Shows
This one I was so-so on, but when Time even rips season six while saying what a great concept 24 is, you gotta respect that. Check out the beautiful first line:

I was hesitant to include this show after its sixth—and admittedly terrible—season.

If he does come back, however, 24 will have definitely gone off the deep end in trying to return to power. I say leave Tony off and figure out a way to bring back the good President Palmer. I wouldn't even care how they explained that one.